To finish up the term, Madame Miller-Bouchard’s Grade 8 French class created 10 different board games that had the goal of testing students’ knowledge on course content. Students included a total of nine categories with themes ranging from mathematical equations to seasons, days, and months of the year, to useful expressions in French. They were invited by Madame Vondracek’s Grade 8 French class to play their homemade games together. This opportunity was beneficial for all students as it provided a chance to collaborate and practice their skills en français!

LEARNING FROM ALUMNI

On Wednesday afternoon, we had the distinct pleasure of having four King David alumni – Zeke Blumenkrans, Class of 2012, Bayle James, Class of 2014, Sam Khalifa, Class of 2014, and Sophie Temirov, Class of 2017 – come in and speak to our Grade 12 class about what to expect after high school. It was an enlightening experience for our students, and a wonderful moment for our teachers to see how far our alumni have come. Here’s what David Gorski, who taught all four of our alumni panel members, had to say:

"After getting the 3 H’s out of the way (hellos, hugs, and handshakes), I joined the students in listening to what Sam, Zeke, Sophie, and Bayle had to say about their respective university experiences. As a parent of a son now in Grade 12, I know all too well that there is a great deal of anxiety to go with the excitement of what next year is going to look like. Our ambassadors made it clear that there is no singular experience and that all of our graduates will find their own path, and their path will very likely look nothing like they envision – and that is okay. We heard about the amazing opportunities for personal, professional, and academic growth that all four alumni experienced. Co-op programs, clubs, organizations, and sports are all on the menu and all contribute to meeting new people and creating a well-rounded university experience that every one of our speakers felt was essential to their success. It was such a treat for me to see what well-rounded, mature people these former students have become – gives me hope for my son and his classmates!"

ATHLETICS THIS WEEK

Our Junior Boys Basketball team

Congratulations to our basketball teams for their hard work and sportmanship this week! Our Junior Boys Basketball team finished in fifth place out of 10 teams in the GVISAA Chirstmas Classic tournament! Both our Senior Boys and Senior Girls Basketball teams also played extremely well in their various match-ups this week.

Kol Hakavod, Lions! Thank you to Coaches Amram and Dichter for all they do for the teams!

This week in our Grade 11 class, we were discussing forgiveness and its challenges when the subject quickly shifted to the specific challenges of forgiving siblings. How can we avoid sibling rivalry? The Torah highlights how hard these tensions are to avoid. The stories of Cain and Abel, Abraham’s sons Isaac and Ishmael, Isaac’s sons Jacob and Esau, and Jacob’s dozen sons, all illustrate just how easily family tension and jealousy can begin and quickly grow to tear a family apart. The Torah teaches us the proper response from the start: we ARE our brothers’ keepers.

How can we avoid these common family dilemmas? What can we do in our families to reduce tensions, manage jealousies, and create positive family dynamics? It all begins and ends with communication.